Tell us about your favorite bike, what do you like the most about it and why is it special to you?
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| 1935 Raleigh Carrier Bicycle, Restored by Rowan - Singleton Fire Station - Rowan |
Asking me what is my favourite bike would usually engender a
decent-length book as an answer, for there are so many. We currently
have, after our spring clear-out, about 26 bikes in the household, split
between myself (most of them) Raven, 3 (plus half of two tandems) and
our student daughter Jessika who keeps 3 here. The concise but flippant
answer to your question is "My favourite bike is the one I am riding at
the time". Each has its own character - even two Raleigh Superbes will
feel completely different - and each its own purpose, and niche in the
collection.
I do prefer bikes which are versatile though, and I do play
the game of "if I could only keep one" (a good insomnia cure that one).
The winner of that little game is always my custom-built-for-me Bob
Jackson tourer. I've had it ten years and it's been all over Europe, as
well as doing commuting and shopping duty, trailer-hauling, and even a
jaunt over the 'Black route' in Dalby Forest (The UK's premier Mountain
biking venue, in Yorkshire). I really couldn't live without some kind of
cargo bike, though. I loved my Xtracycle and regret letting it go, we
currently have 3 traditional English carrier bikes, and I'm lusting
after your Yuba Mundo, made worse by the fact that the UK Yuba dealer is
in our town! - (
practicalcycles.co.uk).
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| Bob Jackson Custom Super Tourist - Kirkham Abbey, N. Yorks - Rowan |
How has cycling changed your life?
Cycling has been a part of my life since childhood, where I escaped life
in a northern mining town for the open spaces of the Pennines with
friends or alone. My first tour was a 3-week exploration of northern England at age 15. Then as usual, cars came along! there followed a
career in professional Rally driving, display driving, writing about and
dealing in vintage cars, until three things happened in 1994. Firstly,
the classic car market had collapsed (I was getting tired of the shallow
people anyway), then I happened to spot the first 'En-cycle-opedia'
(published in the 90s by a York co-operative, which is where i was
looking at moving to), and my eyes were met by these wonderful
machines. Recumbents, load haulers, child carriers and many more. What
is more, these are things I could actually have a go at building! That
same day, I was walking home (WALKING for goodness sake - Me?) and
spotted a 1948 Rudge bicycle in a dumpster. All these signs could not be
wrong. I soon found that the folks in cycling are nicer, bikes are
cheaper than cars, and you can keep lots of them in the house! I had my
new obsession!
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| Raven, Pashley RH3 - London - Rowan |
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| Raleigh Misty, Mixte - Raven's Bike | |
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I soon moved to York, and joined that enclave of enthusiasts centered
around the publishing house, and I became a bike messenger, and parcel
delivery rider for a couple of years. I have not regretted the change
for a moment since.
Bicycles have brought new friendships, a sense of
community and belonging, adventure, health, and so much sheer joy I
cannot begin to describe. In 2004 I founded BikeRescue, and then The
BikeRescue Project, a charity based in York, centered around bicycle
recycling, and incorporating youth work, cycling promotion, and
expanding into infrastructure projects such as The HubStation, a cycling
hub and bike park. I left York in 2010, but I still offer my experience
to other organizations and cities, as well as restoring vintage bikes
at home.
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| Raven's beautiful Raleigh Misty, Mixte, - At home - Rowan |
Raven had been a cyclist in younger days (we are both just over 50 now),
and had also been bitten by the rally car bug - she still drove a
road-rally car when we met 2 years ago. A broken neck, followed by the
development of Degenerative Spinal Disorder and Degenerative Disc
Disease severely limits her ability to undertake bike rides. However,
Raven's fighting spirit means she will not let excruciating pain deprive
her of the pleasure of shorter rides whenever she can.
We both get
around by bike in London and take short countryside
rides, sometimes making use of our two tandems. Raven's lightweight
'mixte' Raleigh has been adapted for an upright riding position, and her
other two bikes are a Pashley carrier bike (mailbike style) and a
vintage roadster, just nearing completion of a full restoration. Both of
these bikes are perfect for someone who needs to sit up and take car of
their back.
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| Kronan - York, U.K. - Jessika de Bargest |
I do most of my bicycle maintenance in my kitchen (with my limited skills), where's the oddest place you've ever done bicycle maintenance or mechanics?
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| Orbit tandem & Bob trailer, Rowan and Jessika 1300 mile trip - Cornwall - Rowan |
As far as maintenance is concerned, I'm not really in a position to speak
to a novice on this, having as we do a well-equipped bicycle workshop
out back. However,
I have changed a bottom bracket on an Alpine pass in
Slovenia (yes, I did have a spare with me, as I was hoping to make it to Ljubljana on the failing one). Serviced a tandem on Fistral Beach in
Newquay, Cornwall, as this was the turn-round point in a ride round
England with Jessika. I tried to fix a broken fork on a Moulton in
France, but gave up and walked to a village, where there was a
'Brocante' sale. I bought a Dilecta 'porteur' bike, and a gorgeous 1953
Peugeot, with a Goeland for spares, for 25 euros! My V.W. camper-van was
rather full for the rest of the holiday!
Oh, there was also the episode of fishing a dumped bike out of a Dutch
canal, and getting it going on the street, in the dark, in order to ride
it back to the hotel.
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| 1985 Claude Butler Canyon - Heslington Hall, University of York - Rowan |
I rely heavily on the advice of more experienced riders, what would be your first piece of advice for someone
hoping to start cycling?
My advice to new cyclists would be 'don't be put off, don't be scared'.
nothing is nearly so bad when you actually start doing it, as your mind
tells you it will be when you're looking out of the window plucking up
the courage. the rain always looks worse from indoors, hills are always
steeper in your imagination, and drivers really DON'T want to kill
anyone if they can help it, let alone damage their precious paintwork!
When you are riding, and you feel tired, the headwind pushes you back,
and you just feel like a failure at this cycling lark, do remember that
every cyclist on the road is feeling the same.
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| Jessika and Scarlett, Pashley Picador - York - Rowan |
Never, EVER let the macho-boy-racers intimidate you with their silly
clothes and impractical bikes. They won't show it, but behind their
alien glasses, under their silly pointy headgear, they are suffering as
much as you, and are probably looking at you thinking 'if she can ride
that old thing, in that coat and jumper, how come I'm so tired on my
wonderbike in my lycra?'
Then there will be all the other days, the sunshine, the tailwinds, the
'cool bike!' shouted across the road, and you will realize you are a member of a community, the brother-and-sister-hood of the wheel! Hail
and Welcome!
Do you have any cycling goals or aspirations for the coming year?
So what of our plans? At the moment, family care commitments are keeping
us fairly grounded, but in the medium-term, our major plan is to
sell-up, and go live a nomadic lifestyle with our pack of rescued dogs,
either on our boat or in an RV. This is a lifestyle where bikes will
play a crucial part of our everyday living. As we travel to new places
and find a base, the bikes will be our sole means of exploring each new
part of the world. We aim to spend at least a decade traveling like
this, and it will be interesting to watch how the rest of the world
copes with peak oil, climate change and the impending collapse of
capitalism, while we tread as lightly as we can, with the clicking of
our freewheels for company!
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| Pashley Pronto, Rowan moving house - N. Yorkshire - Rowan |
Where can we hear more about your journey?
We have been toying with the idea of a blog for some time, as cycling is
only one of our interests, alongside dog rescue and rehabilitation,
green lifestyle, pagan ways, ancient and modern social history etc. In
the meantime, you can keep abreast of our bicycle collection, and our
adventures with them, on our flickr biking site;
flickr.com/photos/velocipedinarian.
